Goals To examine and document traditional ecological knowledge of weather and climate in Samoa To identify opportunities to understand what had helped indigenous communities like the Samoans to successfully adapt to climate variability in the past – particularly to weather and climate extremes and using this knowledge to formulate locally appropriate adaptation response measures and policies to anthropogenic climate change

Key research questions Is there a role for traditional ecological knowledge of weather and climate in improving our scientific understanding of climate change? Do Pacific Islands indigenous people’s knowledge systems incorporate ideas and concepts of anthropogenic climate change? How do Pacific Islands indigenous people manage changes in extreme events in the past? What lessons can we learn from these communities?

Methodology Qualitative – generally examines people’s words and actions in narrative or descriptive ways more closely representing the situation as experienced by participants Quantitative – based on observations that are converted into discreet units that can be compared to other units by using statistical analysis – statistical is an essential component Talatalanoa fa’asamasamanoa

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Conclusions